From Strahan we drove 300 km through the spectacular World Heritage
South Western Wilderness area down to Hobart on the south coast. I had
high hopes that I would take some spectacular vista shots from this very
winding road. What a disappointment. It rained heavily for 250 km of
the drive. We were driving in low cloud until we came down from the
mountains, but at least there were very few other vehicles on the road. A
small consolation for a very wet, white day. It’s called rainforest for
a reason.
The highlight of our stay in the south was to be a flight on a light
aircraft to a dirt airstrip at Bathurst Harbour, deep in the most remote
area of the South West Wilderness, for more walking. I had fond hopes
of taking some original photos in this special, remote location.
The flight had been booked and paid for, and we’d packed our cold and
wet weather gear. Then on the afternoon of the day before we were due to
depart, the phone call came — “Flight cancelled due to weather
forecast! “ I pleaded, “it’s so sunny here today”. The caller, from the
wilderness airline, patiently explained “That’s true, but that’s Hobart.
Out there at Bathurst Harbour today it’s very low cloud, and it’s
raining heavily. We have a webcam by the strip”. And he was right
because the following day the clouds and rain moved into Hobart.
So the next day instead we went on a small boat under stormy skies along
the majestic dolerite cliffs of the south coast of Bruny Island looking
at seals, sea eagles, albatrosses, and lobster boats bobbing
about in the swell.
Despite the two disappointments, the two weeks in Tasmania were a
wonderful, fun trip and I came back with a few pleasing photos, a couple
of which should make big prints for the house.
